Choose Your Own Customers, Part I

I recently met up with an acquaintance and we decided to catch up over a beer. He invited me to a local men's club. I had never visited this particular establishment previously, but it was truly a man's place: poker tables, big screen tv, lazy boys and of course a bar with several cronies playing Liar's Dice. The club hosts weekly "Stag Nights" during which ladies are not invited. The place oozed testosterone and you could tell it was exactly the type of place the "boys" went to get away from the home life.

My friend and I walked in fresh off a day of work. We both sported business casual and we each carried our planners in our hands. Nothing out of place for a Tuesday afternoon, I felt. However, upon entering the room, all the cronies turned to look at us and there was a cool silence. After the pregnant pause, one gentlemen blurted out "Is this a 7th-Day Adventist Convention?" This caused an uproar of laughter among the others. We smiled, scampered over the bar and did our best to fit in by ordering a couple of beers.

We were certainly out of place for a moment. Our business casual was not casual enough for this establishment and it showed. Perhaps if I were more religious I may have taken offense to the comment. We also could have felt of discrimination. However, my mind did not go in that direction. The first thought that went through my head was, "Genius! What other business gets customers to make fun of other customers, and survives?"

As I thought more, I realized that this was brilliant marketing strategy. There is a lesson in this private club for all businesses: be choosey with your customers; you cannot please everyone. So many businesses nowadays are going with the birdshot marketing strategy: blast as many messages out there in hopes of attracting as many folks as possible. This strategy only works if you truly have a product geared towards the masses, which very few businesses do. The best strategy is to avoid the birdshot and pick the one weapon that works for your market. In fact, as the men's club taught me, true success lies in the ability to be very selective in seeking customers.

The more a business can be selective in its target market, the easier the marketing investments become. Think about the hot night club with the velvet rope at the door. People line up hoping to get in. The club is so exclusive that it only lets in certain people. You may wait several hours, but if you don't fit the profile, you don't get in. Word builds and builds and soon everyone wants to get into that club. The line grows night after night mostly from word-of-mouth. Sure the club invests in some marketing like getting the right music, the right lighting, the right drinks, etc. But from an advertising perspective, exclusivity is maximum return on minimum investment...all it took was a velvet rope!

For your business, think about how you can choose your customers. The more selective you can become with your customers, the more you can focus on his or her specific needs. In turn, your business can then serve your customers better. Over the long run, success will come from servicing one niche very well. The men's club served one niche very well and has been in business for decades.

A club like that may not your cup of tea, but that is the whole point.